This also proves Austin Dillion will more than likely be in the 33 cup car in 2012. They were trying to put him in the nw car but it looks like B owyr is going to RPM and Austin's plan is geting accelrated.

Hornaday will be released the end of the season and KHI may be getting out of the truck series entirely.The merger has been going on for awhile,i guess it's now offcial and i hope Tony and Kevin still run a couple races a year.Clint is better off elsewhere,but i don't believe Petty Enterprise is the place to go-would like to see him go to a better team, but there isn't much out there right now.Harvick had his chance with Penske and blew it by staying with RCR.The bussiness relationship KHI has with RCR i understand,but Kevin staying at RCR is a mystery to me,i thought he would have jumped at the chance with Penske when he had the chance.Wonder if there's more going on than he's letting on?

Winston Cup Series Busch Series Craftsman Truck SeriesNow it's the wake me up when it's over in all Series!

RICHMOND, Va. – Clint Bowyer’s return to Richard Childress Racing in 2012 appears about as unlikely as Bowyer making the Chase For The Sprint Cup.

Bowyer wasn’t optimistic about staying with his current team when talking Thursday at the Chase wild-card contenders news conference at Richmond International Speedway.

When asked if his return to RCR was unlikely, Bowyer said: “That’s fair [to say] – we’re just working on everything, that’s the biggest thing, just trying to get everything done as far as the future.”

Having driven for RCR during his entire six-year Cup career, Bowyer and team owner Richard Childress haven’t been able to agree on terms for an extension.

The 32-year-old Bowyer reportedly has sponsorship from 5-Hour Energy for a majority of the races but would need more sponsorship to fill out the rest of a Cup season.

Richard Petty Motorsports, Roush Fenway Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing officials have said they have talked to Bowyer about possibly driving for them next season. Michael Waltrip Racing officials would not comment on any negotiations with Bowyer.

“There’s opportunities and stuff we’re just trying to weigh out, and you’ve got to have all the stars line up,” Bowyer said. “You can’t just have one piece of the puzzle or a couple pieces of the puzzle. You have to have the whole puzzle pieced together.

“Until you do that in today’s world, you’re wasting your time talking about it to any media because you don’t really have anything to deliver to them.”

Childress did not sound optimistic about Bowyer’s return when talking to SiriusXM NASCAR Radio earlier in the day. Bowyer has four wins and 88 top-10 finishes in 206 career Cup starts.

“We’ve tried and we’ve really worked really hard to put the deal together to keep Clint,” Childress said. “It’s not 100 percent off the table but it’s getting tougher and tougher as the day goes by.

“Clint’s got a couple of really good opportunities there facing him. We just, for us, it just didn’t seem that we could get everything worked out. Clint’s still a good friend. I want the best for him.”

The best doesn’t appear to be a spot in the 2011 Chase. Bowyer sits 14th in the Sprint Cup standings and needs to win and have help to make the Chase.

His hopes took a big blow last week when an accident with Juan Pablo Monotya relegated him to a 36th-place finish Tuesday at Atlanta. Bowyer was obviously frustrated after the race, and he said his future being in limbo played a role in that frustration.

“That’s what the importance was on - the Chase. Heck yeah, it goes a long ways towards the future,” Bowyer said. “That’s why it was so important.”

Bowyer did reverse his stance that the wreck was Montoya’s fault.

“I was upset and obviously that was my fault that wreck happened,” Bowyer said. “I was upset [with] what had happened leading up to that; [that] was the biggest thing where my frustration was coming in.”

Not a fan of the wild card – “this is a #### of a publicity stunt,” Bowyer said – Bowyer doesn’t think he has much of a chance to earn one of those wild-card spots.

“I think the Chase is pretty much over. … I’ve kind of given up on that,” Bowyer said. “I’m a realist. I work off of reality and try not to lie to myself.”

33 team will most likely drop down to Nationwide to run with Austin. Ty will most likely run the truck for KHI in 2012. This will certainly hurt Clint. I don't think he can run anywhere near as well as he has for RCR the last few years if he joins RPM. Childress is one of the best organizations out there.

Smoke_14 wrote:33 team will most likely drop down to Nationwide to run with Austin. Ty will most likely run the truck for KHI in 2012. This will certainly hurt Clint. I don't think he can run anywhere near as well as he has for RCR the last few years if he joins RPM. Childress is one of the best organizations out there.

Would agree with you about RCR being one of the best ten years ago,but i'd say more like a top ten team rather than five these days.Bowyer has made his mistakes along the way,but the guy does have alot of talent and i hate to see him go to RPM too.

Winston Cup Series Busch Series Craftsman Truck SeriesNow it's the wake me up when it's over in all Series!

As a byproduct of the consolidation of Nationwide Series efforts between Kevin Harvick Inc. and Richard Childress Racing, one of the top teams on the Camping World Truck circuit will be shutting down.

Harvick said Friday that he would no longer field his Truck operation -- one that's won 39 races and two championships -- after this year. The move is part of a vast scaling-down of KHI that will also include selling the shop facility and equipment, all of it stemming from the shift of Nationwide efforts to RCR, and all of it with the goal of putting more focus on Harvick's effort on the Sprint Cup tour.

Harvick fields two full-time Truck teams, for drivers Nelson Piquet Jr. and Ron Hornaday, as well as a third entry that runs part-time. Hornaday has won two of his four Truck titles under the KHI banner.

"It's been a great run. Obviously, one of the hardest conversations I've had to have was with Ron, telling him where everything was going. He was a big part of helping us get to the point that we're at today," Harvick said at Richmond International Raceway.

"It's fun, don't get me wrong. It's fun to go out and win Truck races and be a part of it. We've been able to win championships. I that's one of the great things about where we're at with the decision -- it's not like we're struggling to get by, or there's no sponsorship, or we're not winning any races. ... In the end, and this is no knock on anything, but really the only thing I want to do that we haven't been able to accomplish in my career is win the Cup championship. Cup cars make it all go around. Richard and I have talked about this a lot. Without the Cup cars being successful on Sunday, or Saturday night or whatever the case may be, Trucks don't exist, Nationwide cars don't exist, and sponsors aren't there. ... That Cup championship is what we're after."

Earlier this week, Harvick announced that the team's two-car Nationwide efforts would be shifted to RCR, reversing a move the two operations made in consolidating under one roof at KHI prior to this season. The reason, Harvick said, is that Nationwide cars are more similar to Sprint Cup cars today in areas like tires, parts, and inspection, and utilizing RCR's Sprint Cup knowledge in building them simply made too much sense. The finalization and rollout of the merged Nationwide programs was the reason Harvick was unable to attend the NASCAR function at the White House on Wednesday.

As a result, KHI will be scaled back to a company that primarily runs Harvick's personal business, fan club, website, and other non-racing matters. The equipment and the shop, Harvick said, will be sold. KHI employs 140 people, who were informed of the news Wednesday afternoon. Harvick is hopeful that many of them will find jobs in RCR's expanded Nationwide program, in which Harvick will retain an interest. Harvick said the move will allow him more time to spend with his Sprint Cup car and with sponsors, remove some ownership pressures, and allow him extra free time.

"There are some normal things you can do in life, I hear," he joked. "Hopefully, we can experience some of those."

But the most obvious repercussion will entail the shutdown of a Truck Series team that has been a cornerstone of KHI's success. The circuit does not compete again until next weekend at Chicagoland Speedway.

"It's a tough model, business-wise. We've scrimped and scraped and got the sponsorship and things that you need, and GM has been a great supporter of everything that we've done. But from a business standpoint, sometimes you just have to make the decisions as to what you want to do, and for us it just didn't make sense," said Harvick, who co-owns KHI with his wife DeLana.

"I think when you look at the expectations that we put on the company to race, it costs us more to race the vehicles than maybe some other people. The Truck Series is a great series. It's a lot of fun. I would love to continue driving some races in the Truck Series as we move forward. It's just a point where we felt needed to make some decisions from a business standpoint, and these are the decisions that DeLana and I made. ... We were making it all work, but sometimes you just feel like you've got to get something out of it. We were winning races and love to be a part of that, but in the end, it's business."

In Honor of my nephew serving our country out of Baumholder Army Base in Germany.

Remeber Austin will attempt to race at Kansas. If he can get a top 25 I am sure they will do something so he'll be in the 33. RCR's nw teams are already set and I don't see Austin staying in trucks any longer. Ty will get that ride.

So far Elliott is going to be in the #2 again and Austin in the #33 Nw cars next season according to Kevin and Richard.The #33 Richard is running out of time,but claims he wants Bowyer to remain with him if he can get the complete package together in Cup or there will only be three teams next season.Harvick is completely out of the truck series and it appears Ty will drive the #3 truck for RCR and no mention of the #22 RCR owned truck.There has been talk Kyle Busch would like to hire Ron Hornaday for the truck series and Germain Racing also speaks interest as one other team.Ron is 53 yrs.old,he has no intention of leaving the series if he gets a ride.Kevin stated it was what he felt best as he didn't have the resourses to compete against the big teams like Roush,JGR,HMS,RCR ect. w/o help of a Cup team,thou he had no problems getting sponsors.Kevin also stated he got tired of being called all the time for every little thing back at the shop ect. Ten years and he joins RCR for NW because of todays competetion and demands,i'm surprised he isn't already burn't out myself.Got to admit,he put out some pretty dam good race cars over the years and the #2 is still hanging in there 2nd in points w/o a win.

Winston Cup Series Busch Series Craftsman Truck SeriesNow it's the wake me up when it's over in all Series!